by Adair Hart
Dr. Snowden’s eyes widened when he saw the Time Warden timeplex. He was not sure what he was seeing, but it differed substantially from the projection that Evaran had shown before. Instead of one octagonal object, there was a large one with multiple smaller spherical ones floating outside it. It reminded him somewhat of an atom model. Large ships, similar to the one he had seen before when meeting the matter mages, cruised between the spheres. “That … is much bigger than I thought.”
Evaran nodded. “V, approach and begin standard scans.”
“Acknowledged.”
Dr. Snowden checked the front right side of the command area, where a holographic image of Levaran, in her command chair on her Torvatta, sat facing them. He noticed her talking but could not hear anything. Maybe she was telling Edev the same thing Evaran told V.
Levaran focused on Evaran. “This is much different than what you encountered.”
“It would appear so. The large one is similar. I am guessing the smaller ones are replicas that are being built up. Although they are spherical, I suspect that is just the base form. The pattern should be the same in each one, though.”
Levaran interacted with her chair console. “We’ll take the far side and verify.”
Evaran and Levaran locked gazes for a moment, then nodded at each other.
“The Time Wardens really screwed with the timeline,” said Emily.
“They are much more powerful here,” said Evaran.
She wrinkled her eyebrows. “Is the plan the same? Destroy this … timeline connection thing, and get out?”
“It is. As long as we are back in the Torvatta when it blows up, we should be okay. The resulting devastation should also take out these smaller ones.”
“A lot of death,” said Dr. Snowden.
Evaran raised a finger. “Think of it as a relocation. Letting the Time Wardens run unchecked would be disastrous for the timeline, and for Levaran.”
“I understand,” said Dr. Snowden. “So … we’re two hundred million years after the creation of the timeline if I recall, but where are we exactly?”
“Analysis. We are approximately one point five billion light-years away from where Earth would be.”
Dr. Snowden raised his eyes. “That’s quite far away.”
Evaran nodded. “It is when the rifts formed along with other stellar phenomena. As for distances, the rifts do not respect that, so they could be anywhere.”
Dr. Snowden sighed. “I’m glad you already took care of this in our universe.”
“Yes, but at a cost,” said Evaran, looking down.
Dr. Snowden glanced at V. “Do you have memories from HA4?”
“Analysis. I do not have any personal memories of HA4. However, I do have HA4’s memory of leaving the Torvatta for that mission.”
Dr. Snowden pursed his lips. “So when you leave the Torvatta, it always has an up-to-date history of what you’ve been through, then syncs with whatever new experience you had when you get back.”
“That is correct,” said V.
“Fascinating,” said Dr. Snowden. “I take it it only stores the factual part, like writing an entry in a book.”
“It is a visual history, so it is more of an observation for me than an experience.”
“Like watching a video clip. That’s hard to fathom,” said Dr. Snowden.
V nodded.
Evaran cleared his throat. “V will be flying the Torvatta, and Edev will fly Levaran’s. They can block off the entry point as needed. We will need that when we escape.”
“Analysis. The planar beam generator can be used if necessary.”
“Sounds like a plan,” said Dr. Snowden. “Let’s hope we can pull it off,” he said, glancing at Emily, “flawlessly.”
She snorted. “We better not be detected then.”
He pointed at the smaller octagon as they approached it. “Look at the size of that thing. Even the small ones are large.” Judging by the panel count, he figured it was about seventy-five percent the size of the one Evaran had encountered previously. Detailed labels popped out on the screen showing various statistics about the portals and the material used to encase them.
It was the small specks walking around the panels on the outside that attracted his eye. They appeared to be individual Time Wardens, but these were larger than the defender types he had seen before.
Evaran sat forward as he interacted with his chair console. A smaller window appeared off to the side showing the Time Warden. “It is a maintenance drone, the type we are looking for. We can get one once our scans are done and hopefully avoid any battle.”
Dr. Snowden gulped. “Speaking of battle … our repulsion and stun beams were useless against the predators. We have the rods, but that requires us to get close. Are we going to have any advantage at all other than the Time Wardens being distracted?”
“I have been thinking of that,” said Evaran. “We just need the individual shielding to drop so that your stun beams can then incapacitate them. To that end, I am going to add two new beams to your PSDs as well as to my utility handle.” He raised a finger. “The first is a mist beam. It will generate a cloud around a target that not only interferes with any electronics, but also can be hit by the stun beam to dissipate the charge in an area of effect. This is highly effective against regenerating shields and creatures who have a weak point that is hard to get at.” He raised another finger. “The second beam is the targeting for shooting sticky globules. It might not hold the bigger ones, but it would be effective against the smaller ones.”
Emily smirked. “Debuff beams. Slow their movement and blind them, and then shock the hell out of them if needed.”
Evaran nodded. “One note on the mist beam. By itself, it is not damaging to living matter, other than to obscure their vision.”
“We could always revert to close quarters if need be,” said Dr. Snowden.
“You are correct, but I am hoping we will not need either,” said Evaran.
“What about our suits?” asked Emily.
He nodded. “That will take some time. I need to think further on that.”
“Sure,” said Emily.
He smiled at them. “I am trusting that you will use these new beams responsibly outside this situation.”
Dr. Snowden felt a warm glow wash over him. He raised his head a bit. “We won’t let you down.”
“You can count on us,” said Emily.
V pivoted around.
Evaran smiled. “Yes, V, I will add this to the list of enhancements to your outer container after this is all done.”
Everyone chuckled.
Dr. Snowden understood the new beams intuitively. They were not lethal by themselves, but could be depending on the situation. The sticky beam could hold something while the environment crumbled around it. He realized that the mist beam may have made previous encounters a bit easier. The grapple beam was something he wanted to be added, but he figured he would take what he could get.
He focused on the screen as the Torvatta entered through one of the smaller sphere openings. Inside was pitch-black except for a glowing item in the middle. As they approached it, he could see it was a spherical floating facility of some type. The busy surface was packed with towers and structures he could not make heads or tails of.
They could see the faint outline of beams shooting out from the facility to the portals lining the interior sides. Smaller structures near the portals absorbed the beams, then transmitted them through other beams into the portal.
Dr. Snowden pointed at the smaller structures near the portal. “Those look like anchor stations.”
Evaran tapped at his chair console to zoom in on the smaller station. “They are. The sheer amount of them indicates the Time Wardens have been at this for a very long time. If Levaran had not been captured, I suspect they would already be destroyed.”
Levaran’s projection lit up. “I’m seeing the same thing over here. I’m headed to the main structure.”
“As are w
e,” said Evaran. “V, take us in.”
“Acknowledged.”
Dr. Snowden had noticed Levaran watching the discussion between him and the others. It made him think that she wished she had that with her now. It probably reinforced what Evaran had shown her about what traveling with others could be like. As the Torvatta exited the small structure and headed to the larger central one, he could see that the activity from where they had just come from had picked up. He tilted his head. “Are you sure they can’t detect us?”
“They cannot. However, they probably detected something moving through their opening via their sensor net. They would not know it was us,” said Evaran.
Dr. Snowden bobbed his head as he refocused on the looming central structure. As the Torvatta cruised toward it, his thoughts wandered to the potential fighting that would take place once they were inside. He had hoped the situation could be resolved by maybe the Torvatta pulsing its shields and disrupting a beam, or even ramming into whatever device was keeping the time vortex open.
Emily was confident in her physical abilities, whereas he was not. He was sure he could contribute, but the Time Warden predator fight shook him a bit. They had fought one while Evaran and Emily fought one, and it took everything to take it down. Even with new gadgets and tactics, he had his doubts.
After thirty minutes, the Torvatta approached the large central octagonal structure. It had panels like the smaller ones as well as openings. What stood out was that some of the panels had a tower on them. When the Torvatta ran a scan, it showed the towers to be defensive in nature. Some had communication streams highlighted, whereas others pointed at the smaller structures and shot a light beam at them.
Dr. Snowden marveled at the fact that he could see the beams at all. From past experience, he knew that if viewed from the outside, they would be invisible, and the Torvatta just colored it for the screen.
Emily pointed at the opening as they crossed through it. “There’s a lot more activity here.”
Dr. Snowden studied the maintenance Time Wardens scurrying about. He saw another type that was a bit smaller. After gesturing at it, he said, “It looks like there is a new type of Time Warden there too.”
“I know of this type,” said Evaran. “It is specific to these structures and is like a soldier. They can propel themselves around and are meant to be used inside the structure’s open space.”
Dr. Snowden bobbed his head. “I guess they’ll investigate the blip from when we passed in then.”
“They are already headed that way,” said Evaran. He tapped at his chair console. “Observe.”
Dr. Snowden studied the small panels that popped up on the front screen. It showed packs of Time Warden soldiers headed toward them. Some had already passed and were near the entrance. A shiver went up his spine. They were deep in enemy territory. He knew they were safe inside the Torvatta, but the fact that the Time Wardens marched through the Krotovore ship with no fear added to his perception of their power. He wondered if the Slivyn could have destroyed one.
As the Torvatta approached the center of the structure, Emily’s eyes widened. “What is that?”
Dr. Snowden studied the octagonal object. It had large buildings on each face. In the center of each face was an opening that led deeper inside. It reminded him of an eight-sided die with holes drilled on each side.
“It is the timeplex’s control facility,” said Evaran. “Each face has a buffer behind it, and it runs all the way to the center. The center itself is protected by a strong spherical layer, at least in our universe it was.”
“How the heck are we supposed to get in there?” asked Dr. Snowden.
“The tunnels are several hundred miles long. Landing pads should be at the end of them. Based on what I know from our universe, they should be about five miles out from the control facility center, known as the chamber. We will head in to one of the openings and go from there. Due to the size of this one and the unusual readings I am getting, it may be more difficult. We will see.”
Dr. Snowden fidgeted with his fingers as the Torvatta continued scanning around. When they were inside one of the holes in the face, he observed that large pipes lined the sides. There were various outcroppings and landing pads, and Time Wardens were everywhere. He rubbed the goose bumps on his arm. If ominous was what the Time Wardens were going for in their aesthetic, they nailed it. He gulped and continued his survey.
After four hours, Emily felt her stomach growl. They had gone to the end of one of the tunnels and already exited. Levaran had docked and was coming on board, and Emily was looking forward to getting something to eat while they went over the next step.
Her mind had wandered over the different situations in which she could use the new beams. It dawned on her why Evaran did not add lethal means to a weapon. While the Torvatta might inhibit it, she figured there were ways around that. However, it was clear that a certain type of thinking was required when nonlethal means were your only option. It reminded her of her talk with Evaran in their previous adventure, when he told her that violence was not always the answer, and Levaran’s talk with her earlier.
Emily headed to the conference room with Evaran and the others. After grabbing a steak salad and some iced tea, she sat next to Dr. Snowden, who had grabbed something to eat as well and sat to Evaran’s right. V, in orb mode, had taken a position in the seat to Evaran’s immediate left. Only Levaran and Edev had to come.
After ten minutes, Levaran and Edev joined the group and took seats next to V.
“We can begin,” said Evaran. He tapped at the table console. “Per the scans from both Torvattas, we have found an entry point. It is a landing pad at the end of the tunnel as I suspected. The landing pad should lead directly toward the control chamber. There are information centers along the way. We will access one and grab whatever data we can.”
“So did we get scans of the interior from the landing pad to the control chamber?” asked Dr. Snowden.
Evaran shook his head. “The spherical layer I mentioned before prevented that. We will need to determine the best path once we are there.”
Emily’s eyes raised. “So we don’t actually have a specific route?”
“We do not. However, I have gone through a similar structure before, and they seem to follow the same pattern here, just larger.”
Levaran smiled at Emily. “Don’t worry. As long as we remain undetected, we should be okay.”
“I guess the information center would be a good test. I figure that will be protected heavily,” said Emily.
“Surprisingly, they usually are not. Then again, the hallways are patrolled,” said Evaran.
“Oh,” said Emily. “Well, what if the Time Wardens attack our landing spot?”
Levaran gestured at V and Edev. “They will be in control of the Torvattas and can stuff the entrance. If needed, the planar beam generator can be used.”
“Analysis. We will hold them back if required.”
“Most assuredly!” said Edev.
Everyone chuckled.
“As long as we’re prepared,” said Emily.
“No problem at all,” said Evaran. He gestured at Emily while looking at Levaran. “Curiosity is a defining trait of humans.”
“It’s admirable,” said Levaran.
Emily smirked. “Well, since I’m on a roll, what do we do when we get to the control chamber?”
Evaran changed the projection.
Emily studied the cylindrical pure-black beam that shot from the ceiling to the floor in the center of the large room that the projection showed. A shield with a thin porous metallic backing surrounded it with a variety of large segmented arms connected to the backing. The room was crawling with Time Wardens. Some interacted with the forest of pillars in the room, while others roamed around.
“This is the recording prior to when I shut down the one in our universe,” said Evaran. “We just need to get to the command interface on the other side of the room and activate the self-destruct. We will ne
ed to override the self-destruct timer in order to give ourselves time to leave.”
Dr. Snowden shook a finger. “I seem to recall that in order to interface with the Time Warden systems, we needed a claw thing.”
“You are correct,” said Evaran. “I will climb out of our drone, and we will try the one from our universe on the command interface.”
“Try?” asked Dr. Snowden with widened eyes.
“If it does not work, there will be a Time Warden commander there we can take it from.”
“Oh, yeah. Not a problem,” said Dr. Snowden, shaking his head.
Emily swatted Dr. Snowden’s arm. “Don’t worry, we can take it if we need it.”
“As always,” said Dr. Snowden with a sigh. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. By far, that seems like the point where if things go bad, it’ll really go bad.”
“I understand your concern. However,” said Evaran, gesturing at Levaran, “they have not met Levaran in this form. Her strength should be able to handle a commander.”
Levaran cracked her neck. “If we need a distraction, then V and Edev can cause that. The doors will seal, and then we face whatever is left in the chamber.”
“Well, then I guess it’s drone capturing time,” said Dr. Snowden.
Evaran nodded. “I will need to upgrade your PSDs with the new enhancements while V and Edev find a suitable drone nearby.” He tapped at the table console, causing the projection to vanish.
Emily studied the ground as she followed Evaran to the research lab. If everything went as planned, this should be over fairly quickly. If not, then it would be the toughest fight she had been in. The fact that there was so much fighting reminded her how chaotic the universe was. At least Evaran and Levaran were trying to make it more peaceful, though at the cost of using the one thing they wanted to avoid. The irony was not lost on her.
Thirty minutes later, Levaran had gone back to her Torvatta while Evaran and the others sat in the command area of their Torvatta.
Emily noticed that her upgraded PSD did not feel any heavier. The beams were just additional selections. The Torvatta was created using dimensional mechanics, so it made her wonder how it worked for the PSDs. Probably something much lower level since the changes were made quickly.
